2020 Volume 73 Pages 218-224
Operation restriction during earthquakes with human hands and earthquake disaster prevention system/Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system automated have been already installed in many railways, Japan and overseas, and therefore, when an earthquake occurs, those restriction and systems have ensured the safety and the stability of the railway. On the other hand, when operating those restriction and systems for railways, each railway operator has adopted an operation method specialized for the own planning of railway operation, and there are no unified guidelines and/or specifications in Japan. Also, there are no internationally shared guidelines. Therefore, it was strongly requested to create quality-guaranteed guidelines for countries and regions where there is a concern about the occurrence of earthquakes. To reduce the risk for customers caused by an earthquake and to reduce the downtime for railway operations, an international standard for a planning of railway operation to ensure the safety and the stability has been developed.
At first, in this commentary, we outline the development process of international standards in the railway field. We, secondary, explain the development of international standard for the planning of railway operation in the event of earthquakes. The developed international standard ISO 22888:2020 "Railway applications-Concepts and basic requirements for the planning of railway operation in the event of earthquakes" is a new international common guideline. Therefore, by complying with the specified concept and basic requirements in ISO 22888, it is expected a planning of railway operation in the event of earthquakes that ensures quality will be executed.
